FOR THE KING'S BIRTHDAY 1715 by NAHUM TATE

Arise harmonious pow'rs
From your Elysian bow'rs;
And nymphs Heliconian springs,
To caress the royal day,
That such a blessing did convey,
No less a blessing than the best of kings.

Yet, in the transport of your joys,
Beware the sacrilegious crime
Of trespassing upon the monarch's time,
Which since for common welfare he employs,
The muses' tribe would wrong
The public int'rest to detain him long.

Only to Britannia say,
Her happy days commence again,
That all her sorrows shall repay
And rescue her renown,
Since glorious George accepts the British crown
And kindly condescends to reign.

When kings that make the public good their care
Advance in dignity and state,
Their rise no envy can create,
Because their subjects in the grandeur share
For, like the sun, the higher they ascend
The farther their indulgent beams extend.

Yet long before our Royal Sun
His destined course has run
We're blest to see a glorious heir
That shall the mighty loss repair,
When he that blazes now, shall this low sphere resign,
In a sublimer orb eternally to shine.

A Cynthia too, adorned with ev'ry grace
Of person and of mind;
And happy in a starry race
Of such auspicious kind,
As joyfully pressage
No want of royal heirs in any future age.

@3Chorus@1
Honoured with the best of kings,
And a set of lovely springs
From the royal fountain flowing;
Lovely streams can enter growing,
Happy Britain past expressing:
Only know to prize the blessing.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...